Department for Education

Out-of-school Education

Baroness Blackstone: To ask Her Majesty's Government what mechanisms they have to monitor the number of children at risk in unregistered religious settings.

Baroness Barran: Local authorities are legally responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their areas, regardless of the educational setting they attend.Where local authorities have safeguarding concerns, the department expects their services to intervene. There are a range of powers held by local agencies which can be utilised where concerns have been identified, for example, around health and safety, premises regulations and general safeguarding.Where local authorities believe that a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, they have a legal duty to investigate where necessary.The department consulted in 2020 on widening the registration requirement to settings that operate full time but only offer a very narrow curriculum, which would include a number of full-time religious settings that are currently allowed to operate without having to register. The department will respond to this consultation soon, setting out next steps.The department has also committed to taking forward measures to make it easier to investigate and prosecute unregistered schools, working with Ofsted and the Crown Prosecution Service. The department intends to take forward these measures when a suitable legislative opportunity arises.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Climate Change: Antarctic

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to discuss with international partners the warnings by scientists working in the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration of the potential for ice shelf failure along the Thwaites Glacier in the next decade.

Lord Callanan: The UK is always seeking to discuss issues with our international partners where appropriate opportunities arise. This is no exception and there is a strong international community involved in monitoring and discussing the risk around the Thwaites Glacier. In 2018, the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) funded the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, a five-year £20million Antarctic research programme and the largest joint project undertaken by the two nations in Antarctica for more than 70 years. This project is aimed at collecting instrument data throughout the glacier and the adjacent ocean, and modelling ice flow and the future of the ice sheet. The collaboration involves around 100 scientists from world-leading research institutes in both the US and UK alongside researchers from South Korea, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand and Finland, who will contribute to the various projects. The changes that may occur in the vicinity of the grounding line of the Thwaites Glacier in the next decade will not, of themselves, result in a significant change in global sea level. While some computer models predict that such changes may lead to a wider loss of ice to the ocean, these are processes occurring on century timescales. For this reason, the NERC and BAS priority at present is to continue to monitor the Thwaites Glacier with satellite and ground observations, as they are presently undertaking in collaboration with the US.

Mathematics: Investment

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what percentage of theannual investment in themathematicalsciences has been in pure mathematics and notinvested in mathematicsdefined as maths of the “physical and material universe” in the past five years; and (2) what percentage of such annual investment is plannedfor future expenditure.

Lord Callanan: The UK is a world leader in Mathematics. British mathematicians publish a large volume of highly regarded work. When compared to international colleagues, British mathematicians have the 5th largest share of publications in the world. When looking at the top 1% of most cited publications, UK mathematicians are responsible for the third largest share.Between Financial Year 2015-2016 and September 2021, UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) council the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) committed £259.9m to research grants Mathematical Sciences. This includes commitment from the Additional Funding Programme. At this time, EPSRC are unable to make a direct comparison between specific types of Mathematics. Following the Government’s announcement in January 2020 to invest additional funding into Mathematical Sciences, UKRI has awarded around £104 million of additional funding to the discipline, over and above EPSRC’s core Mathematical Sciences Theme budget. The additional funding has covered institutes, small and large research grants, fellowships, doctoral studentships and postdoctoral awards. On the 27 October 2021, the Government announced the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review. BEIS and UKRI will now set out how we meet the commitment to invest additional funding into Mathematical sciences in forthcoming years, as part of the allocations process.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

China: Genocide

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Germany about cooperation in pursuit of joint obligations under the Genocide Convention in relation to China.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK continues to lead international efforts to hold China to account for its human rights violations, working closely with international partners, including Germany. For example, close UK co-operation with Germany helped to secure the support of 43 Countries for a statement on Xinjiang at the UN Third Committee in October. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary and German Foreign Minister discussed the situation in Xinjiang with other G7 Foreign and Development Ministers on 11 December.

Department for International Trade

Loans: Ukraine

Lord Truscott: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money they are lending to the government of Ukraine to buy UK military equipment; and what assessment have they made of the likelihood of British taxpayers being repaid that loan.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: As part of a cross-Whitehall effort to support the £1.7bn Ukraine Naval capabilities Enhancement programme (UNCEP), UK Export Finance (UKEF) has committed to provide a £750m direct government-to-government loan, as well as guarantees to support lending for the remainder of the financing. UKEF is open for cover in Ukraine and as is the case for all transactions, will charge a fee for the provision of guarantees or direct lending that reflects the risks involved.

Trade Fairs: Finance

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) extend, and (2) expand, financial support for UK companies at trade shows in other countries.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: Existing support for attending trade shows is available via the European Regional Development Fund supported £38m Internationalisation Fund, which provides co-investment to small and medium-sized enterprises to internationalise. HM Government extended support on 30 November 2021, by launching the UK Tradeshow Programme. The scheme builds business capability to maximise benefits from participating at trade shows overseas. The programme offers some exhibiting businesses up to £4,000 of financial support. The programme expands from January 2022 to include support for businesses visiting (prior to deciding whether to exhibit) selected overseas trade shows, to get them exhibitor-ready. This includes assistance of up to £500 to all successful applicants.

Trade Agreements

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made as to whether the progress of negotiating free trade agreements and economic partnership agreements is constrained by a lack of staff and resources.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: The Government has an ambitious programme of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. When delivering any programme, but particularly one of such scope and ambition as our FTA programme, resource will always be a constraint. To achieve the best outcomes for the UK, we manage the delivery of our work to ensure that we use our finite resource in the right way. This has allowed the Department to realise unparalleled success in the delivery of our FTA programme. So far, we have agreed trade deals with 70 countries plus the EU. Those deals covered £766 billion of our bilateral trade in 2020.

Economic Partnership Agreements: Commonwealth

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty's Government what priority they are giving to negotiating economic partnership agreements with Commonwealth countries.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: We are committed to working with our friends and allies in the Commonwealth to remove unnecessary barriers to free and fair trade. The UK already has trade deals with 33 Commonwealth members. In addition, a further 15 Commonwealth members who qualify as developing countries benefit from reduced tariffs under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Avian Influenza

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of (1) the implications for producers and their livelihoods of the current bird flu outbreak, and (2) the availability of poultry for Christmas.

Lord Benyon: Defra’s avian influenza disease control measures aim to minimise the economic burden of the outbreak on the food, farming and tourism industries and the wider economy. The Department works closely with poultry industry stakeholders and the impacts of the avian influenza outbreak are being monitored closely. Where avian influenza is confirmed on a premises, the producer receives compensation for any healthy birds culled for disease control purposes. Compensation is not available for sick birds or those that have died, or for consequential losses such as lost sales opportunities as a result of movement restrictions. These are well-established arrangements in line with the Animal Health Act 1981 (As amended). Around 9 million British turkeys are reared for Christmas every year to some of the highest standards in the world. Although the supply of vets, catchers, farm staff and drivers remains a challenge for the poultry industry, recent avian influenza outbreaks at turkey farms are very unlikely to have any detrimental impact on the supply of British turkeys this Christmas.

Food: Production

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to commit to maintaining Britain's self-sufficiency in food production at 60 per cent.

Lord Benyon: The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response. It is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption. Our high degree of food security is built by supply from diverse sources; strong domestic production as well as imports through stable trade routes. This provides us with the resilience we need in the face of risks such as adverse weather, animal or crop disease, or transport and border disruption.Our production to supply ratio remains high in comparison with historical levels. We produce 60% of all the food we need, and 74% of food which we can grow or rear in the UK for all or part of the year, and these figures have changed little over the last 20 years. The UK’s year-round production includes cereals, meats, milk and some fresh produce, and we have close to 100% production to supply ratios in poultry, turnips, carrots and swedes.The UK Food Security Report recognises the contribution made by British farmers to our resilience, and the importance of strong domestic production to our food security. It considers the UK's food supply sources overall, noting that domestic production and diversity of supply are both important to our food security. The UKFSR summarises existing information and understanding. It serves as an evidence base for future policy work, and does not contain policy recommendations.

Horticulture: Seasonal Workers

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reported shortage of seasonal labour in the ornamental horticulture production industry; and whether they willpublish the findings of any such assessment.

Lord Benyon: Defra is considering the latest data and working with the ornamental horticulture production industry to understand labour demand and supply, including both permanent and seasonal workforce requirements. We will continue to monitor the labour needs of the ornamental horticulture sector and help to ensure that these are met.In December 2020, a Defra-led review into automation in horticulture was also announced alongside a review of the Seasonal Workers Pilot. The review will report on ways to increase automation in both the edible and ornamental horticulture sectors and meet the Government’s aim of reducing the need for migrant seasonal labour.The Government has announced that the seasonal worker visa route will be extended to 2024 to allow overseas workers to come to the UK for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops. 30,000 visas will be available. This will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 visas if necessary.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to announce a new seasonal agricultural workers scheme for 2022; andwhat plans they have to includethe ornamental horticulture production industry in that scheme.

Lord Benyon: Defra is working closely with the​ Home Office to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the food and farming workforce beyond 2021.The Government has announced that the seasonal worker visa route will be extended to 2024 to allow overseas workers to come to the UK for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops. 30,000 visas will be available. This will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 visas if necessary.

Fisheries: UK Trade with EU

The Earl of Caithness: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether issues related to the fishing of non-quota species will be included in their assessment of the operation of the UK–EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement.

Lord Benyon: Non-quota species (NQS) fisheries in English waters are of significant interest to both UK and EU vessels, given the high value of NQS, and their importance to local communities. Despite this, NQS are in many cases data limited, and improving the robust scientific evidence base underpinning management of NQS is a priority area. Doing so will allow for improved assessments of stock status to take place. The Fisheries Act also commits the Government to publish Fisheries Management Plans to help deliver our ambition for sustainable fisheries. These plans will set out how we can manage fishing activity to achieve our ambition for stocks to recover and be maintained within sustainable limits, while reducing the impact of fishing on the wider environment. The Joint Fisheries Statement will set out a list of proposed Fisheries Management Plans that will be published over the next five years. The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement outlines provisions for the management of shared non-quota species. Working with the EU, through the Specialised Committee on Fisheries, we will develop multi-year strategies for the sustainable management of shared NQS which will be key to improved data collection.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

The Earl of Caithness: To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they are taking to avoid crops having to be ploughed in due to a lack of seasonal farm workers.

Lord Benyon: The Government recognises the importance of labour to bringing home the harvest.Defra continues to work closely with industry and other Government departments to understand labour supply and demand, and to ensure there is a long-term strategy for the food and farming workforce beyond 2021.The expanded Seasonal Workers Pilot has provided a solution to the unskilled labour needs of the edible horticulture sector through 2021, supporting farmers growing UK fruit and vegetables. This sector of agriculture has the highest dependency on seasonal labour.The Government has announced that the seasonal worker visa route will be extended to 2024 to allow overseas workers to come to the UK for up to six months to harvest both edible and ornamental crops. 30,000 visas will be available. This will be kept under review with the potential to increase by 10,000 visas if necessary.In addition, food and farming businesses can continue to rely on EU nationals living in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Over 5.5 million EU citizens and their families have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme.The Government encourages all sectors to make employment more attractive to UK domestic workers through offering training, careers options, wage increases and to invest in automation technology. To support these efforts, Defra is working with industry and the Department for Work and Pensions to raise awareness of career opportunities in the food and farming sectors among UK workers.Defra is also leading a Government review of automation in horticulture to improve our understanding of what is required to accelerate the development and uptake of automation technologies in both the edible and ornamental sectors, in England, with the view to reducing the sector’s long-term dependency on seasonal migrant labour. The review’s final report will be published shortly and will inform a range of policy decisions regarding automation and seasonal labour from 2022 onwards.